After the defeat

Now wait a minute here, the Kargil/Kashmir conflict is already over?
I do not understand. Just when the issue was starting to make any sort
of sense, the plug was pulled on it. I feel betrayed and cheated, and
I want to know who was responsible for this blunder.

The whole story started with a group of guerrillas occupying some
strategic peaks in Indian controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denied it had
any hand in their action, something which India did not accept from
the very beginning. The initial reports of guerrillas getting the
better of the Indian army were surprising, especially in the light of
the Pakistani claim that they had nothing to do with them. Slowly but
inevitably the tide turned, as Indian army regulars backed by the
muscle of their artillery and air-force began to make steady
gains. Indians kept up their claims that the infiltrators were
Pakistani army regulars, something which Pakistan repeatedly
denied. Then they started to produce evidence, like the bodies of
Pakistani officers and soldiers. Pakistan tried its best to project
its point of view, and repeatedly called for worldwide intervention in
the conflict. However, in all of this, Pakistan was universally
condemned by the world community, no one paid one iota of attention to
the Pakistani claims that the guerrillas were not its soldiers who had
crossed the Line of Control. Then as various mountaintops fell in
succession like dominoes to the Indian army, the rhetoric coming out
of Pakistan changed its tone. What was first a position of power, as
perceived or projected by Pakistan, quickly changed into what can only
be described as pleas for negotiation. And then there came the
surprising visit to Washington by Nawaz Sharif. Then the withdrawls.

There are so many dimensions on which this whole affair was a disaster.

Politically Pakistan lost. It has made no headway on the Kashmir
issue, no one in the international community has made one substantial
statement regarding the resolution of the Kashmir issue. The
"assurance" by Clinton, which is being enthusiastically paraded in
Pakistan by Sharif and Co. means nothing in reality because the U.S
has made no firm commitment. Kashmir stands exactly where it was
before this affair, in fact it is probably further away from Pakistan
than it was before. And worse of all, this encounter has revealed the
dirty little secret of the world community, no one cares or will care
about Kashmir. It is simply not cost effective for the world powers
to intervene in this hornet's nest. They would rather let it simmer in
its misery forever rather than risk anything in finding a solution
which has so far defied everybody. Over time people will have to learn
to live with what they have and the world will go on.

Militarily Pakistan lost. The success or failure of military
expeditions is decided by whether it achieves its objectives or
not. Pakistan did not achieve its objective of occupying the peaks and
was forced to retreat. As if this was not enough, Pakistan tried an
impossible feat of convincing the world that it was not directly
involved! This meant that while the Indian propoganda machine merrily
produced lopsided figures of casualties everyday, Pakistan had to
remain mum, since it was not directly involved in the conflict! Who
was the idiot who thought that this strategy of implausible denial
would work? The result was that the Western media was awash with
figures, stories and images from the Indian side. The effect of
one-sided coverage by global media cannot be ignored. So while news
sources like New York Times, BBC and CNN carried images of Indian
soldiers fighting valiantly against intruders, writing letters to
their loved ones and manning artillery that rained shells incessantly
on the mountaintops, the Pakistani side got no coverage. Not only
that, but everyday the world learned of the great gains made by the
Indian military that made the Pakistani military look like amateur
fools. Since the Pakistani military had nothing else to show, it had
to resort to childish protests that the Indian military was not
revealing the true number of its casualties!

And finally, morally Pakistan lost. Nothing is worse than a
half-hearted effort. If some path is to be followed, it must be
followed in all earnestness. Pakistan made two half-hearted attempts
this year. First, a half-hearted attempt at peace and then a
half-hearted attempt at war. If one signs a resolution of peace then
one should give it time to mature and one should follow it
meticulously to build confidence. If Pakistan was not happy with
India, it should not have participated in confidence building efforts
like the bus diplomacy. It should have made its differences clear and
rejected any attempts of reconciliation without a negotiation of those
differences. And then if Pakistan felt that it had to commit treachery
after signing a peace agreement, then it should have put everything
into the war. Forget vacillating between peace and war. It should have
fought this war with a clear military objective, to occupy Indian held
Kashmir, and should have accepted all risks that it entailed. The war
should have been carried to its logical end, either a "liberation" of
Kashmir or a complete defeat for Pakistan. It would have been
dignified at the very least, and there was a small probability that
Pakistan might have made some gains. Now Pakistan has neither its
dignity nor its objectives. In addition, it has incensed India and
started another cycle of mutual distrust which will haunt the future
generations. As if that was not bad enough, now India is more united
and will be spending more on its military. Kashmir will be permanently
guarded by its troops reducing the chance of another Kargil
scenario. And the nationalist right-wing party will be swept into
power as it rides the wave of celebrations of Indian victory.

By its utter ineptitude at handling this affair, Pakistan has handed a
complete victory to India on a platter. Regardless of what Nawaz
Sharif and his cronies try to sell to Pakistanis, the simple fact is
that Pakistan just took a couple of leaps backwards.

I cannot even describe how disgraceful was that impromptu trip of
Nawaz Sharif to Washington. To beg for an audience, to go uninvited,
not to be entertained in the White House, to plead and finally to
accept unilaterally and unconditionally the dictated terms. All while
Vajpayee refused to go when he was invited and was constantly being
briefed by Clinton on what Nawaz was offering. This is probably one of
the most miserable instances of international diplomacy that has come
across my eyes in a long, long time. Nawaz did not have to travel to
Washington to beg and plead, if in the end he would have dutifully
done what was asked of him.

It is a gross understatement to say that I, as a Pakistani, feel
cheated, humiliated and betrayed. This war was started without taking
any of my fellow Pakistanis into confidence and consideration, was run
in a clandestine and haphazard fashion and was wrapped up in
disgrace. I demand to know what is going on in Islamabad and I want
the heads of the people responsible for this on a platter. The first
to go has to be Nawaz Sharif himself. Then the people need to know how
and when the military planned this debacle, and get the people who
were responsible. I want transparency of government, and I want the
lies of my government to end.